The cruel, cold months of December and January bring warmth to the hearts of college football fans everywhere -- but only if their Division I team is involved in one of the thirty-five scheduled "major" college bowl games.
Each bowl's selection committee scouts the possible teams for both the match-ups, and more importantly, for the potential revenue that will come from alumni streaming into their city.
Loyal and devoted alumni snap up overpriced stadium tickets, book crowded holiday flights, reserve expensive hotel rooms to head far away from home to watch their team do battle on the field of honor. At times it is on a field of horror.
Imagine the unbridled excitement if you are an alumnus of UCLA or the University of Illinois as the Bruins, who won 6 and lost 7, tackle the Fighting Illini with a 6-6 record on December 31 in the Fight Hunger Bowl. The game is actually from hunger. It represents mediocrity personified in their combined records of 12-13, with the only saving grace being that it will take place in San Francisco, a city where you can find most anything to satisfy your appetite.
Long, long ago there were only four major bowl games worth seeing and they were shown on the three major television networks on or about New Year's Day. There was the Cotton Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, the Orange Bowl and the Rose Bowl, each promoting a product without blatantly doing so.
Now you can begin to get your fill of football starting on December 17 with the Idaho Potato Bowl, followed on December 20 by the Beef O'Brady Bowl, the Little Caesar's Bowl on December 27, the Chick-fil-A Bowl on December 31, and the Outback Bowl on January 2, 2012.
If you are driven for success there's always the Maaco Bowl and the Meineke Bowl, and with Danica Patrick behind the wheel, you can go to the GoDaddy.com Bowl game in Mobile, Alabama featuring two perennial powerhouses, the Arkansas State Red Wolves and the Northern Illinois Huskies on January 8.
The following day, the BCS game to determine a national champion will take place in New Orleans featuring unbeaten, number one Louisiana State University and once beaten (by LSU 9-6) University of Alabama.
On the final weekend of the regular season the previously unbeaten University of Houston Cougars were squashed by the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles 49-28, and slipped down in the ratings. The Cougars now have the opportunity for redemption when they face the Penn State Nittany Lions in the virtually unknown TicketCity Bowl in Dallas on January 2.
Penn State and the Catholic Church have a few noticeable things in common. Both institutions would like to fill the seats of their venue for every performance, and a small number of each of their staff members seem to make the news for taking an abiding interest in developing a relationship with future generations.
At Penn State, their 107,282-seat stadium is filled for each of their seven home games, and along with ticket sales, additional game-day revenue comes from parking, food and drink. There is also the yearlong fund-raising sale of Nittany Lion paraphernalia including pennants, mugs, sweatshirts, jackets and hats. All of this brings in an estimated $53.7 million in revenue, which should be adequate to fend off the sexual abuse lawsuits that are sure to come against the university.
I am an alumnus of Wayne State University in Detroit during the days when our team was called the Tartars, long before they became the Warriors. If I had enough money, time and the inclination, I might consider heading south to watch them take their 13-1 record and play the 13-0 Winston Salem Rams in this Saturday's Division II playoffs. If they win, on December 17 they would play either the Delta State Fighting Okras or Pittsburg State's Gorillas for the championship in Braly Memorial Stadium in Florence, Alabama, population 36,721.
For the rabid fan (short for "fanatic") with a limited budget, there is an immense challenge coming in the next month. When the thirty-five bowl games take place on seventeen different days, most fans will be comfortably ensconced in front of the TV.
Even if my Warriors made it to the Division II championship game, I will be staying home and participating in my annual ritual of avoiding watching as many games as I can, including the three bowl games on ESPN on that December 17 date.
I doubt if Wayne State will be on the air but I will check the sports section next Sunday to see if the Gorillas devoured The Fighting Okras, and more importantly, if my team got by the Rams.
Go Tartars.